For the London-based drinks giant the numbers appear to add up. Mey, Turkey’s biggest spirits group, has access to roughly 50,000 retail outlets in the country and nearly 80% market share for its leading brands of the powerful, non-sweet aniseed-flavored aperitif Raki, widely considered the national drink. Mey, which also produces vodka, gin and flavored liqueurs, accounts for more than half of the total Turkish spirits market, which reached $1.59 billion in 2009 excluding wine sales, according to data from the IWSR, a liquor-market research firm.

At one level, Diageo hopes to increase sales of the most popular Raki brands to Turkey’s growing middle class. It is also popular in Greece, Albania and other Balkan countries, providing further leverage to grow volumes in other key emerging markets. Whether the company’s global marketing muscle can attract new consumers to Raki outside this region is highly debatable, given the taste specificity of the spirit. But then, that is not the key rationale behind this deal.